Bill Lawrence | |
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![]() Lawrence in 2015 | |
Born | William Van Duzer Lawrence IV [1] December 26, 1968 Ridgefield, Connecticut, U.S. [1] |
Alma mater | College of William and Mary (BA) |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1993–present |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Charlotte |
William Van Duzer Lawrence IV (born December 26, 1968) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and director. He is the creator of the series Scrubs and co-creator of shows including the live-action Cougar Town , Spin City , Ground Floor , Ted Lasso , and Shrinking , and the animated series Clone High , in which he also voiced the leader of the shadowy figures. He has written for many other shows, including The Nanny and Boy Meets World .
The name of Lawrence's production company, Doozer, is a wordplay on his middle name.
Lawrence is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, where he studied English and was a member of Kappa Alpha (KA) social fraternity. After graduating, his first writing job was as a staff writer on the short-lived ABC sitcom Billy . He briefly wrote for Boy Meets World , Friends , and The Nanny . [2] In 1996, he wrote for the short-lived sitcom Champs .
Lawrence's first show as creator was the ABC multi-camera sitcom Spin City , co-created with Champs creator Gary David Goldberg, which originally starred Michael J. Fox as a deputy mayor of New York City. The show lasted for six seasons and won a Primetime Emmy Award and four Golden Globes. [3]
He went on to create the single-camera sitcom Scrubs , which followed the lives of hospital staff. The show premiered in 2001 and ran for 9 seasons in total, 7 on NBC and 2 on ABC. Lawrence wrote, produced and directed the series. The show received critical acclaim, and won a Peabody Award in 2006, and two Emmy Awards with 17 nominations. [4] [5]
His next project was co-creating the 2002 animated sitcom Clone High for MTV with Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The show lasted a single 13-episode season. In 2005, Lawrence co-created the failed The WB pilot Nobody's Watching with Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan. [6] Lawrence was preparing for his film-directing debut with the film Fletch Won, a prequel to the previous Fletch films, but ultimately left the project after Scrubs star Zach Braff exited the project. [7]
Lawrence co-created the single-camera sitcom Cougar Town , which premiered in 2009 on ABC, with Kevin Biegel. The show is executive produced by series star Courteney Cox and her then-husband David Arquette. Courteney Cox had been a guest star on Lawrence's previous sitcom Scrubs. The show ran from 2009 to 2012 on ABC, then moved to TBS in 2013. [8]
In 2013, Lawrence was involved with three shows that made it to series. He co-created and executive produces the TBS sitcom Ground Floor with Greg Malins. He is also an executive producer of the Fox sitcom Surviving Jack and the NBC sitcom Undateable . [9] After running two seasons, Ground Floor was cancelled. [10] In 2014, Lawrence and four other cast members from Undateable did a standup comedy tour to promote the show. [11] [12] [13] Undateable was cancelled in 2016 after three seasons. [14]
Lawrence wrote a script for the Rush Hour television series, though it was ultimately canceled, after a single season. [15]
In 2017, Lawrence started developing a new multi-camera comedy series called Spaced Out, a show set in the world of commercial space travel. [16] Lawrence is an executive producer for Whiskey Cavalier , described as an action dramedy starring Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan, which was ordered to series at ABC but canceled after 10 episodes. [17]
Lawrence co-created the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso , which premiered in 2020 and has gone on to win two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2022, Lawrence signed a new five-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group through 2028. [18]
Lawrence married actress Christa Miller in 1999. [1] They have three children together. Miller has been cast in Lawrence projects Scrubs, Clone High, Cougar Town, and Shrinking.
Lawrence is the great-great-grandson of Sarah and William Van Duzer Lawrence, whose home became Sarah Lawrence College. [1]
On July 21, 2017, Lawrence was involved in a plane crash on the East River in New York City with his family. Everyone aboard survived unscathed. [19]
Year | Title | Creator / Showrunner | Director | Writer | Producer | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Billy | No | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Gimme Some Credit" |
1993 | Boy Meets World | No | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "The Father/Son Game" |
1994 | The Nanny | No | No | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
1995 | Friends | No | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "The One with the Candy Hearts" |
1996 | Champs | No | No | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
1996–2002 | Spin City | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
2001–2010, 2025–present | Scrubs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2002–2003, 2023–2024 | Clone High | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
2006 | Nobody's Watching | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Unaired TV pilot |
2009–2015 | Cougar Town | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
2013–2015 | Ground Floor | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
2014 | Surviving Jack | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
2014–2016 | Undateable | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
2016 | Rush Hour | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
2018 | Life Sentence | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
2019 | Whiskey Cavalier | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
2020–present | Ted Lasso | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2021 | Head of the Class | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
2023–present | Shrinking | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
2024–present | Bad Monkey | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |